Christ. is a Scottish solo electronic music artist. His music has been notable due to the melancholic nature of his sound and lush soundscapes he uses in them. There is no religious meaning in his name; rather, it is an abbreviation of his real name, Christopher Horne. Christ.’s music is often likened to that of fellow Scottish electronic group Boards of Canada. In fact, Horne was an early participant in the nebulous Hexagon Sun collective from which BoC emerged and was a collaborator with the group until approximately 1995, appearing on the Twoism album, reissued by Warp in 2002. Horne’s departure was amicable and he thanks the duo on his Pylonesque EP issued on the Benbecula Records label in 2001. He followed this release with a full length album Metamorphic Reproduction Miracle on the same label which was very well received within the genre. He later released “Blue Shift Emissions” album, “Distance Lends Enchantment To The View” album, “Seeing and Doing” ep and “Bike” ep.
Facts
1: Everything is real, nothing is ordinary.
2: Everything is important, nothing is real.
3: Everything is ordinary, nothing is important.
Questions
What is the biggest inspiration for your music?
Other music that gives me shivers up the back of my neck and makes me laugh because it’s so good. My family, my friends. A sunny day, a sweaty night. Everything really. I can’t imagine ever not making music.
How and when did you get into making music?
I’ve been interested since I was about four… I started to copy some fairly simple tunes my brother was playing on the piano,
and the interest pretty much developed from there. I have a primitive multi track recording that I put together when I was eight, with two 1970’s tape recorders… basically I recorded into the mic on one of them, then played it back and played along with it, recording into the mic on the second player… as I said, really primitive, but reasonably effective.
What are your 5 favourite albums of all time?
cocteau twins, treasure
nitzer ebb, belief
stevie wonder, innervisions
aphex twin, saw 1
bowie, hunky dory
There’s a hundred more I could name… elbow are pretty big for me at the moment, and I’m really digging the new kelpe after seeing him play in edinburgh last year.
What do you associate with Berlin?
Style, wurst and schneider tm.
What’s your favourite place in your town?
I’d say my home town is edinburgh, though I don’t live there anymore. Probably the museum on chambers street. It’s a huge and intricate victorian building with various additions, and you could explore it for hours without seeing the same room twice. I spent so many hours there as a child looking at giant insects, or mineral formations, dinosaur bones and all the other artefacts. I particularly love the scale model locomotives in glass cases. They had mirrors underneath them so you could see all the moving parts, and a button to press which would start their mechanisms running.
If there was no music in the world, what would you do instead?
I think I would probably invent psychedelic experimental studio-pop, and spawn the, christmania‘ movement. Failing that I’d be a chef or a photographer.
What was the last record you bought?
I should probably say I bought something really esoteric and artsy, but it was the la roux album, for my girlfriend for her christmas. It’s actually really good, totally reminiscent of everything I loved about music when I grew up. The last album I bought for myself was‚ the seldom seen kid‘ by elbow.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Alive or dead?… Ivor Cutler for one. I have a hand written letter from him.. I wrote to him to ask if I could sample one of his albums and he wrote back. Eno, for the conversation. Maybe the BBC radiophonic workshop guys, but in the 60’s and 70’s.
What was your best gig (as performer or spectator)?
As a performer, I really couldn’t say… I’ve done many, many different gigs, from festivals to tiny club gigs. Every one has been a trip in its own right. Madeiradig was how a gig should be though… professional, friendly, well-organised. The hospitality and location were pretty special, too. As a spectator, probably the Cocteau Twins in Glasgow Barrowland s on the, bluebell knoll‘ tour. It totally blew my windows out.. you know, the harmonies are such an integral part of what made
the Cocteaus great, but it was just liz fraser on vocals, with no backing singers, and it was just as impressive and mesmerising as any of their records.
How important is technology to your creative process?
It is and it isn’t. The technology just allows me to take things that few stages further than if I was writing a piece for piano or guitar. A good portion of the technological help I employ is quite old by today’s stand ards, and a lot of it is a bit broken. I think as in any pursuit, my gear goes some way to defining the limits within which I can operate… kind of sets up the arena… then it’s up to me to do something within that arena which I like.
Do you have siblings and how do they feel about your career?
I have a big brother and a wee sister… they’re worlds apart in terms of character and personality, and I probably differ from them as much. I think they have a bit of a nebulous idea of what I do. I think they think I hang out with Cliff Richard and the streets at pop star parties. I doubt they’re jealous. I know my sister likes my music… my bro is more into his adult orientated driving music… Chris Rea and stuff like that.
Our Favourites:
Toynbee
One sunny cloudy day
Chopper
Links: Facebook | parallaxsounds.com/christ
